Wolves release center Johnson to reach roster limit

The Wolves released center Chris Johnson on Saturday, a move prompted both by the strong play of Robbie Hummel and A.J. Price and by the team’s depth in the post.

“We’re going in that direction,” Wolves coach Rick Adelman said after Saturday’s lengthy practice. “We thought Robbie and A.J. have done a really good job. They’ve earned spots. And we feel with [Nikola] Pekovic and Rony [Turiaf], they have played well, as has G [Gorgui Dieng]. So we’re comfortable with those guys.”

The team will have to pay off Johnson’s $916,000 salary.

Johnson played sparingly during the preseason, so the move doesn’t come as a big surprise. This move, coupled with the release Friday of Othyus Jeffers and Lorenzo Brown, has the team’s roster at the league-mandated 15-man limit.

Adelman said he liked his roster. “These guys have all earned their spots,” he said. “[Price and Hummel] really earned it. They played well the whole month they’ve been with us.”

Etc.

• The team made it official, picking up the options on Ricky Rubio ($5 million) and Derrick Williams (almost $6.7 million) for the 2014-15 season.

• Adelman still has not decided on who will be his starter at small forward for Wednesday’s opener. Or that the Wednesday starter will be the starter going forward. “It’s not written in stone whatever happens,” Adelman said.

• The Wolves practiced extensively Saturday and will do so again Sunday before shortening it up a bit in the two days before Wednesday’s opener.